Friday, May 20, 2016

Update 20th May

A Tangled Web with
‘Politics as ... Unusual’

“Oh what a tangled web we
weave

When first we practice to
deceive”

(by Sir Walter Scott not the
Bard)

The early days of the Dail
have been caught up in a real tangle as a number of contradictions and
suggestions have emerged surrounding the recent O’Higgins report on the McCabe
whistle-blower controversy. In the Dail it led to an early impressive contribution
by Independent TD Claire Daly and a very lame response from the Minister for
Justice and Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald. Of course embedded institutions have
little or no empathy for ‘whistle-blowers’ and Sgt. McCabe has been through the
ringer as a consequence of his stance over the years.

In the Dail the new
arrangements whereby Fianna Fail acquiesce with the Government on a range of
issues has seen them hobbled on this controversy. It is a clear example of how
Fianna Fail may not really be fulfilling their role as ‘opposition’ which they
claim, in their dual world. It is a tightrope and could, as was envisaged in
the lead up to their ‘understanding’ with Fine Gael, concede the ‘opposition
role’ to Sinn Fein and the more radical Independents with Fianna Fail’s
relevance being side-lined. Fianna Fail could have a real identity crisis in
all of this.

Government Ministers

With the formation of every
new Government it takes considerable time for one to get grips with who are the
main players or prime ministers. (They also provide a regular source of quiz
questions). Anyway I’ve done some excavating and this, for your convenience, is
the result. Now it regularly puzzles me that an individual can be given such
major responsibility without having any qualifications in an area and that they
can almost immediately become authorities in their allocated field. I heard it
suggested that in Canada a prospective minister has to have some expertise in
his nominated ministry. Are politicians immediately endowed with the spirit and
inspiration of a heavenly power that they can be so transformed? Personally if
I was ever appointed to a ministry (!) I could eliminate most departments on
the basis of ‘not a clue’. Then you have the curious situation where Leo
Varadkar a doctor and outgoing Minster for Health is redeployed to a totally
different portfolio and Simon Harris, a terrier of a politician, takes over
health and is out on the plinth the following day announcing ‘ten year plans’ .
Was Shane Ross ever engaged in sport? Does Heather Humphreys speak gaeilge? The
appointment of Mary Mitchell O’Connor asMinister
for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation may revive images of her ‘innovation’ in
driving down the steps of Leinster House as a young TD in 2011. Finian McGrath
has a very broad ‘brief’ and has hit a number of fences in his first days. He
will need to reduce the nicotine consumption and be a good boy on water
charges. The picture of Finian beside Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald as
she struggles with questions on the Garda Commissioner’s role in the McCabe
controversy is a sight to behold. ‘For what doth it profit a man to gain…’
and all that.

Government Chief Whip and
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach Regina Doherty.

Minister of State at the
Departments of the Taoiseach and Defence with special responsibility for
Defence

Paul Kehoe.

Minister of State at the
Departments of Social Protection, Justice & Equality and Health with
special responsibility for Disability Issues Finnian McGrath

(A new group of Junior
Ministers has been announced this Thursday evening but I feel that you have
enough homework with the above.)

The cost of Motor
Insurance

I’ve mentioned this
previously and of course I have only a basic layman’s or consumer’s knowledge
of the machinations of the business. As all who seek car insurance know to
their cost insurance premiums are rocketing. Apparently premiums have increased
by 30% in the last year.

In listening to the Sean
O’Rourke Radio programme with a representative of the Insurance industry a
number the headline reasons for this issues were suggested as follows:

1.Apparently €50 of
each premium goes as a levy to pay for the collapse of an insurance company
called Setanta which was apparently registered in Malta.

2.The high level of
awards in the courts. (In a different context altogether we saw a recent
generous award to a lady who tripped on a Wicklow walkway.) Of course courts
are a law unto themselves in these matters. There is little consistency in
awards.

3.Fraudulent claims
are said to add €30 to our premiums. Even taking the €50 and that €30 they make
up just a fraction of current quotes.

4.Motor insurance
companies claim a loss in the area of car insurance in recent years.

5.Legal costs add
significantly to the cost of claims.

6.Apparently the
vast majority of claims are for ‘whiplash’ injuries.

7.There is an
‘Injuries Board’ to try and avoid litigation but apparently 40% of these awards
are rejected and then go to the courts.

The
high costs of motor insurance mean that many more drivers do not take out
insurance at all which is a real danger. There is a real issue here with
policing this particular crime.

There were many and varied
calls to the programme on the difficulties of people getting insurance and its spiralling
costs. One group who find it really difficult are young drivers and those
seeking insurance for the first time. Motor insurance is just
another one of the impossible financial challenges being heaped on young
people/young couples in these years as they start laying the foundations for
their own lives.

Refuse Charges and Changes

From July 1st a system of
‘pay by weight’ is being introduced by refuse companies by regulation. There
seems to be a change emerging regarding the recycling element or bin. I imagine
there would be a concern about people just dumping litter if the costs get too
prohibitive. At the moment people pay by having particular refuse bags or
bin tags/labels. Yellow tags for refuse and blue for recycling. In Boyle we have
an excellent Council amenity for recycling which is open on Monday, Friday and
Saturday with what might be called a nominal cost. It surprises me that people
pay for recycling collection with this amenity in place. Apparently Ireland has
developed a good record for recycling being around 34%.

It will be interesting to see
what the costs of the ‘pay by weight’ will be. New tags are now being phased
out which will potentially cause some issues of supply in the changeover
through June. There are also rumours suggesting that the collection contractors
have not the weighing technology in place.

I perform the humble task of
‘putting out the bins’ at the GAA’s Abbey Park and trying to develop a
considered culture to the litter- in- bins aspect there, is problematic.

(As a footnote while the vast
majority of people in this area are very compliant with their attitude to
‘litter’ one comes across occasional examples of littering as I did during the
week on the road up to the Assylinn).

Arigna Mining Experience

It is great to see that
Arigna Mining Experience has been nominated at number 8 in the list of 10
recommended sites for visitors to Ireland. I have been to Arigna a number of
times and brought friends there from time to time and I have suggested it often
to visitors. It is a unique experience and a raw insight into the kind of
slavery that the miners of that region had to endure in their work environment.
All this is effectively on show in the museum. Also on a clear bright day the
panoramic view from the site is just spectacular. So once more I recommend you
consider visiting Arigna Mining Experience a jewel in the bracelet of varied
and impressive sites we are lucky to have on our doorsteps.

Green Party Meeting

I saw a notice in the
Roscommon Herald, page 12, for a meeting which is proposing to form a branch of
the Green Party in the area. It takes place on Saturday May 21st
in The Bush Hotel at 12noon. Also in the Roscommon Herald this
week-on page 15- there is a short piece outlining the recruitment of
significant numbers to the army.

Dublin/Monaghan Bombings
May 17, 1974.

One of the major outrages of
‘The Troubles’ were the bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in May, 1974. The
bombings were a series of co-ordinated terrorist attacks in Dublin and Monaghan.
Three bombs exploded in Dublin during Friday evening rush hour and a fourth
exploded in Monaghan almost ninety minutes later. 34 people were killed, 27 in
Dublin, and 300 injured. Those regarded as responsible were the UVF but nobody
has ever been brought to justice for the murders and the whole episode is
shrouded in mystery. If you walk from Connolly Railway Station up a dingy
Talbot Street there is a stone memorial there with the names of those murdered
inscribed on it.

I knew someone who was working
in Dublin and passed the location of the Talbot street bomb just minutes before
it exploded on their way to Connolly Station. Then while on the train seeing
shocked passengers arrive a little later. As the Sligo bound train called to
the various stations on route there were many anxious people on the platforms,
including Boyle, waiting and hoping to see family members arrive home safely.

Sports Review

Roscommon v Leitrim on
Sunday in Carrick-on-Shannon.

After the shock of
Roscommon’s near defeat in New York it is on to Carrick-on-Shannon on Sunday
next in search of rehabilitation. I heard it suggested that Roscommon has not
lost in Carrick to Leitrim in decades. Correct me if I am wrong with that. The
resilience of the Roscommon team and of the supporters is being tested again
right now. Still fixtures against Leitrim and, if successful, against Sligo
‘should’ provide the launch pads for a Connacht final appearance. Of course
that was part of the thought process last year and we remember what happened
then. Roscommon are really having serious issues with injuries at this time.
There seems to a be a plague of injuries widespread in clubs, counties and
across sports. I presume the causative reasons for this are being investigated.

The optimism from the wins
over Kerry, Cork and especially Donegal has been dampened especially by the New
York escape. I have heard this question debated; Would Roscommon have a ‘back
door’ into the championship if they had lost in New York?

Leitrim are said to be not
the force they can be but they have regularly given Roscommon a real test.
While we in Roscommon bemoan our prospects and disappointments one has to feel
for the regular supporters of Leitrim and such counties who very rarely
progress or can only dream but are still sustained by those dreams. I wonder
will the Leicester achievement be used as a motivational tool in these
cases this summer. There was considerable satisfaction in Offaly after their
first Leinster first round championship win in nine years on Sunday last. Those
of us who were in Hyde Park for Leitrim’s second ever Connacht win in 1994 will
remember their dream come through joy that day.

So Roscommon are expected to
win on Sunday and all be watching the performance for a renewal of bright
shoots.

County U 16 Panel

I was disappointed to see
that in a picture of 36 players on the county U 16 panel there was not one
player from Boyle present.

The passing of ‘Himself’

One of Ireland’s greatest
sportsmen Christy O’Connor Snr. has passed away aged 91. While I have little
contact with golf I was as a teenager very aware of ‘Himself’ when sport seemed
to be much purer than it is today. Galway man Christy’s nephew Christy Jnr,
another golfing hero, died just four months ago aged 67. The 10-times Ryder Cup
player died at the weekend, aged 91.

In 2009, O'Connor Snr. became
only the second Irishman to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame,
following the amateur Joe Carr two years earlier.